Relation de l'Égypte par Abd-Allatif, médecin arabe de Bagdad
Suivie de divers extraits d'écrivains orientaux, et d'un état des provinces et des villages de l'Égypte dans le XIVe siècle

First published in French in 1810, a rare and invaluable account of Egypt by a medieval Arab scholar.

Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy (Edited and translated by)

9781108056243, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 March 2013

782 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 4 cm, 1.33 kg

A native of Baghdad, Abd-Allatif (1162–1231) was a versatile scholar and scientist of vast erudition. This prolific author travelled widely throughout the Muslim world and wrote an account of Egypt at a time when the country was rarely visited by Europeans. The book covers matters ranging from natural history and medicine to culture and domestic economy. It also includes a vivid description of the terrible famine that Abd-Allatif witnessed in 1200 and 1201 when the Nile failed to flood. The text was widely known in Europe at the end of the eighteenth century thanks to Latin and German translations. Orientalist Antoine Isaac Silvestre de Sacy (1758–1838) translated and edited this version, first published in French in 1810. Complementing this invaluable account are excerpts from several other Arab writers, a detailed biography of Abd-Allatif, and a general overview of the provinces and villages of Egypt in the fourteenth century.

Avertissement
Préface de l'auteur
Part I: 1. Observations générales sur l'Égypte
2. Des plantes particulières à l'Égypte
3. Des animaux particuliers à l'Égypte
4. Description des monumens antiques vus en Égypte par l'auteur
5. Particularités remarquables concernant les bâtimens et les barques, observées en Égypte par l'auteur de cet ouvrage
6. Des mets particuliers à l'Égypte
Part II: 1. Du Nil
2. Événemens de l'an 597
3. Événemens de l'année 598
Appendices
État des provinces et des villages de l'Égypte
Notes supplémentaires
Tables des matières.

Subject Areas: Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]